Kanoko Kitajima Trio
Salt PeanutsJune 20, 2015北島佳乃子 Kanoko Kitajima -- piano金森もとい Motoi Kanemori—bass山田玲 Akira Yamada – drums
The Kanoko Kitajima trio is a young, hard-driving bop-based trio who plays jazz like they just fell in love with it yesterday. And in fact, compared to many musicians in Tokyo and Yokohama, they did fall in love with it relatively recently. All in their 20s still, the three play fast bop with all the vigor, sincerity and fearlessness of youth. Their fresh passion was addictive.Kicking off with Horace Silver, and moving through tunes by Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck and Bud Powell, Kitajima showed why her move last year from Kansai to the Tokyo area was the right choice, both for her career and for jazz fans here, too. She plays as if she has been listening to the music since birth, which, she said after the show, she pretty much has. Both her grandfather and mother are musicians. But more than genetics and a great record collection are at work in her music. She’s devoted to it, and plays with a respect and insight far beyond her years.On older standards like “Old Folks,” or a newer standard like Barry Harris’ gorgeous “Nascimento,” (with the audience providing handclaps), Kitajima shows how fully she’s taken in the range of jazz potential. Those tunes were done marvelously, with fresh ideas and her own personal stamp. But it was a version of Bill Evans’ “Five,” an extremely tricky number, that really stood out. To know how to play the melody not just precisely, but by lingering at the right, felt, moments in and around the beats, showed a deep grasp of what Evans was aiming for.Likewise, Bud Powell’s “Tempus Fugit” was played with a brashness that made the song rise up alive, and not just because of the extremely fast tempo. Clearly, Kitajima enjoyed the challenge of a piece filled with straight eighth notes, a classic bop tune that has tangled the fingers of more experienced players. It was a pleasure to hear her letting her feeling for the keyboard take over with meticulous moves and incisive lines.
Bassist Kanemori nailed down bass lines that fit like the right jigsaw puzzle piece with Kitajima’s playing. He has the sense of where to be, and when, that glues the two instruments together into a single flow. Yamada’s drumming kept the trio moving and leaning forward. He is never afraid to drop down deep into the unexpected opening beats, and to pick up a solo anytime it was offered and take off with it.The trio is still young, but an original tune or two would have personalized the two sweaty sets. Still, the trio’s energy was the main point of the evening. Everyone went home from the club re-energized by what makes bop so special—the special creative juice of improvising in a fast series of fluid moments. Kitajima is a pianist to watch, now that she’s settled in Tokyo.
http://kanokokitajima.com/